Adaptive capacitor switching for wind energy generation

In this study, an adaptive capacitor switching algorithm is developed to optimize the use of switched capacitors as the availability and output of individual wind turbines change within wind farms. Wind farms are typically required to be able to operate within a power factor range of ± 0.95. To achieve this range of operation, switched capacitor banks are used to supply bulk reactive power to the system when the generators near their reactive power limits. The capacitor control logic must be carefully chosen to optimize the use of the switched capacitors for all operating conditions and prevent repetitive switching as the wind generators react to the capacitors reactive power generation.